Federer nabs epic milestone

SHANGHAI — With another win at the Shanghai Masters, Roger Federer guaranteed himself the No. 1 ranking for the 300th week of his career.

The top-ranked Federer beat Davis Cup teammate Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 Thursday in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.

Federer struggled to string points together early, with his backhand looking shaky through much of the first two sets, but he recovered late and advanced to the quarterfinals.

"It's obviously an amazing number and I never thought of anything like this when I was a little kid," Federer said. "I just thought one day my dream would come true to play on the tour.

"So here I am at 300 weeks, and it's probably one of my biggest accomplishments and something I'm very proud of. No doubt about it."

It was looking dismal for Federer as he struggled to string points together through the first two sets. His backhand also looked shaky.

"I just keep on trying," Federer said. "I knew I had a chance going into the breaker and I was just a little lucky. But I never stopped believing.

"But he was the better player for two sets. It was great finding a way out."

Federer will play 10th-seeded Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals after the Croat beat Fernando Verdasco of Spain 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also reached the quarterfinals. Djokovic defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-3, and Murray beat Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.

Murray will play unseeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Stepanek upset eighth-seeded John Isner 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

The second-seeded Djokovic had 12 aces and won 27 of 29 first-serve points. The third game of the second set was the only time in the match that the Serb lost two points on serve.

"I'm trying to enjoy the efficiency of my serve," said Djokovic, who had three aces in one game in the first set.

"I'm not very well known around the tour for big serving. But so far in this tournament, and also in Beijing, it has been working very well for me. It has been giving me a lot of free points, a lot of confidence into the matches."

Defending champion Murray, 25, proved far too strong for Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, serving consistently well and seizing on five out of six break point opportunities to win 6-2, 6-2 in just 57 minutes.

It was the first match of the tournament for the Scot, who had a walkover into the third round. The top eight seeds received a first round bye.

Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) and will next play Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych, who fended off a barrage of 17 aces from American Sam Querrey to win 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4.

German veteran Tommy Haas, 34, who reached a career high of No. 2, beat Serbian sixth seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-1 and will provide a tough test for Djokovic in the last eight.

SHANGHAI AFP- — World No. 3 Andy Murray says he's not much of a reader despite hours to kill on the grueling tennis tour, revealing he gave up halfway through his last book . . . Harry Potter.

The Scot, whose U.S. Open win last month gave Britain its first Grand Slam men's champion since the 1930s, was speaking after Novak Djokovic professed a hankering for the delights of university life, saying he was a keen reader.

"I don't read books. I mean, I go on the Internet a lot and read stuff online, but I don't read books. I haven't read a book since I was about 14, 15," said the 25-year-old Murray, defending champion at the Shanghai Masters.

"I got halfway through the third Harry Potter book. It was the first one that was really, really big. It was like 600 pages. I stopped around 200. I haven't read a book since then."

Multilingual world No. 2 Djokovic, also 25, said earlier this week he had missed out on a normal education, adding that despite all the travel, chances to soak up new experiences were limited.

OSAKA — Misaki Doi advanced to her first semifinal on the WTA Tour with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win in her Japan Women's Open quarterfinal match against Chanelle Scheepers on Friday afternoon.

Doi, whose best result on tour so far had been a quarterfinal berth at Birmingham, England, this summer, defeated the seventh seeded South African in 1 hour, 37 minutes. Doi, ranked 123rd in the world, was helped along by five double faults by the 58th-ranked Scheepers.

Doi will now face Britain's Heather Watson, ranked 71st in the world, in the semifinals. Watson advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over France's Pauline Parmentier at Utsubo Tennis Center.

Doi, 21, did not take a set from the 20-year-old Watson in either of their two career matches.

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Serena crushes Hlavackova; Federer gets walkover

NEW YORK — Didn't take long for Serena Williams to show her fourth-round opponent at the U.S. Open where things were headed.

"The first point of the whole match," 82nd-ranked Andrea Hlavackova explained, "when I served, and she returned, like, a 100-mph (161-kph) forehand return, I was like, 'OK, I know who I'm playing. You don't have to prove it to me. I know.' "

Monday's match was less than 15 seconds old. It might as well have been over.

Dominant from the moment she ripped that return of a second serve, forcing Hlavackova into an out-of-control backhand that sailed well long, to the moment she powered a service winner on the last point, Williams extended her 2?-month stretch of excellence with a 6-0, 6-0 victory to get to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.

Those two big zeros pretty much tell the story; it's the fifth time in her career Williams won with what's commonly called a "double bagel."

Some other impressive numbers: Williams won 60 of 89 points, built a 31-9 edge in winners and improved to 23-1 since losing in the first round of the French Open. That run includes singles and doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the London Olympics.

Hlavackova knows this act all too well: She and Lucie Hradecka were the doubles runnersup at both of those events. Not that those 2-on-2 encounters helped prepare for the 1-on-1 match in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.

"Singles is completely different," said Hlavackova, who chose the phrase "What can you do"? more than once when analyzing what it's like to face 14-time major champion Williams.

"My coach warned me to not go on the court and play for a score," Hlavackova said, by which she meant just trying to keep it as close as possible.

Next for the fourth-seeded Williams, who won the U.S. Open in 1999, 2002 and 2008, is a match against former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since winning the 2008 French Open by defeating 55th-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-4.

Williams — who lost in the third round of doubles with older sister Venus on Monday night — is 3-0 against Ivanovic, including a straight-set victory in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year.

It must not have left much of an impression on the American, because when asked what she remembers most about their most recent match, Williams replied: "Was it here?"

Assured that it was, in 2011, Williams said with a smile: "OK. Yeah, I remember, clearly, not a lot, but I will be looking at the film."

In the semifinals, the Williams-Ivanovic winner will meet either No. 10 Sara Errani or No. 20 Roberta Vinci, doubles partners who both eliminated higher-seeded women Monday and now face the uncomfortable prospect of trying to beat a best buddy.

"Our friendship won't change, no matter what, no matter who wins," said Vinci, noting that she expects they'll have dinner together, as usual, Monday and Tuesday.

Errani and Vinci teamed up to win the French Open doubles championship in June, and now one of them is going to be the first woman from Italy to play in the U.S. Open semifinals since the professional era began in 1968.

Errani, the runnerup to Maria Sharapova at the French Open, got past No. 6 Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Vinci stunned No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-4.

"I really had the worst day," said Radwanska, who could have moved up to No. 1 in the WTA rankings by reaching next weekend's final.

Radwanska could sympathize with Hlavackova's plight, having lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final.

"When she's on fire, you can't do anything about it. It doesn't matter what you try to do, it's going to be a winner," Radwanska said. "It's just Serena. She's a great champion."

So is No. 1-seeded Roger Federer, of course, owner of a record 17 Grand Slam titles, including five at the U.S. Open.

As he attempts to add to those numbers, Federer got some extra rest Monday, because his fourth-round opponent, 23rd-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, withdrew hours before their scheduled match for precautionary reasons, citing medical advice.

The man Federer beat in July's Wimbledon final and lost to in August's Olympic final, Andy Murray, muted 15th-seeded Milos Raonic's big serve and won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 Monday night to reach an eighth consecutive major quarterfinal.

"Today was by far my best match of the tournament," Murray concluded.

No. 3 Murray will play No. 12 Marin Cilic of Croatia, who put together a 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 victory over 50th-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

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Federer, Nadal cruise into fourth round with straight sets wins

MELBOURNE, Australia — In the same half of a Grand Slam singles draw for the first time since 2005, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are taking similar paths to a potential semifinal matchup at the Australian Open.

On the women's side, defending champion Kim Clijsters also advanced to the fourth round.

Neither the four-time Australian champion Federer nor 2009 titleholder Nadal have dropped a set, although Federer's path has been made easier by a walkover win in the second round.

The longtime rivals played back-to-back matches at Rod Laver Arena on Friday. Nadal, his right knee still taped from a recent injury, showed no problems while moving briskly around the court in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Lukas Lacko.

Federer followed in the marquee matinee program by beating Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-3, saving a set point in the tiebreaker with a scrambling lob over the 208-cm Croatian.

"He gave me a second serve and gave me a slight chance," Federer said. "Might have had a little bit of a lucky volley. . . ."

Karlovic agreed.

"It was unlucky ... one in a 100 that I'm going to lose that point," Karlovic said. "I didn't really expect him to do that. I was there, I just miscalculated how much I was jumping. If I would have won that, everything would be different, but that's life."

Nadal had few dramas in his match against Lacko, which is just the way he wanted it. He felt a sharp pain in his knee while sitting in his chair in his hotel on the weekend, an innocent enough movement he initially feared would cause him to withdraw from the tournament.

Three matches later, Nadal says "the knee is fine . . . being in the fourth round without losing a set, it's fantastic news."

Nadal will next meet fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who beat No. 16 John Isner 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 6-1 to put the last U.S. man out of the draw.

It is the first time since the start of the Open Era in 1968 that no American men have reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, although no Americans entered the tournament in 1972 and 1973. The last American to win the Australian Open was Andre Agassi in 2003, his third win in four years at Melbourne Park.

"It's very ugly, to be honest, to have no one in the round of 16 . . . very disappointing, not a good effort from the Americans," Isner said. "We've got to try to rectify that next time the big tournaments roll around."

No. 7 Tomas Berdych beat No. 30 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 and will next play No. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who beat 21st-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-4.

Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the other early third-round match, with two more matches scheduled for Friday night.

Defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray, who has lost in the final at Melbourne Park the last two years, play their third-round matches Saturday, with a Djokovic-Murray replay only possible in the semis.

On the women's side, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki also has not dropped a set in advancing to the fourth round as she continues her quest for a first Grand Slam title. She beat Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-2, 6-2 Friday, and third-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated Mona Barthel 6-2, 6-4.

It's the toughest half of the women's draw. Wozniacki could face Clijsters in the quarterfinals, but before Clijsters gets that far, she might have to beat French Open winner Li Na of China.

Clijsters' only loss to Hantuchova in 11 matches was at Brisbane two weeks ago when she withdrew with a hip injury in the second set of their semifinal.

Wozniacki, who needs to reach the quarterfinals to have any chance of retaining the No. 1 ranking, wasted one match point and was broken when she was serving for the match. But she broke back immediately to ensure she moved into a final 16 encounter against former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic, who beat American Christina McHale 6-2, 6-0.

Azarenka, who beat Li to win the Sydney International last week, has only lost eight games at Melbourne Park and remains one of three women who can overhaul Wozniacki for the top ranking at the Australian Open.

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Federer shakes off pesky Seppi to reach semis at Qatar Open

DOHA — Defending champion Roger Federer extended his winning streak to 20 straight matches Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Qatar Open, despite being stretched by Andreas Seppi of Italy to three sets in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory.

The third-ranked Federer set up a rematch of last year's semifinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The sixth-ranked Frenchman defeated Albert Ramos of Spain 6-2, 6-1.

Rafael Nadal also reached the semifinals, playing some of his best tennis this week in dispatching of Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4. He will face Gael Monfils, who won the last four games in each set to beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-2, 6-3 and ensure that the top four seeds reached the semifinals for the second year in a row.

The 30-year-old Federer, who is 26-3 at the Qatar Open and is looking to win his fourth title in Doha, hasn't lost since falling to Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals.

"I thought I started well. I was able to play aggressive, not giving too much rhythm. He was obviously missing more shots due to that," Federer said. "I thought he was a better player in that second set and deserved that set, and then the third set was close. I had my chances, he had his chances. But I was able to take mine."

Federer, who had never dropped a set against Seppi in seven wins, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and appeared on the way to an easy victory. But he fell apart in the second set, going down 5-1 after a string of unforced errors coupled with improved returns from the 38th-ranked Italian. Federer came back to even the set at 5-5 but Seppi took the last two games, leveling the match when the 16-time Grand Slam champion hit his return long.

Federer fully recovered in the third, breaking Seppi to go up 2-1. He saved two break points to take control at 5-3 and closed out the match with a forehand winner into the corner.

Federer chalked up his struggles in the second set to the return game of Seppi and his own defensive lapses.

"I definitely think Seppi, he's a good return player," Federer said. "When you give him too many second serves, he can take advantage of that. . . . I had some chances to maybe not get broken a couple of times. So often I had the lead in some of the service games where I did get broken eventually, and I hope I can sort of not make that happen so often."

Facing his toughest test yet in the former eighth-ranked Youzhny, the second-ranked Nadal went on the attack from the beginning.

He stretched the Russian with his forehand but failed to convert several break points early on. He finally broke Youzhny in the fifth game to go up 3-2 and held on to win the first set. Nadal broke Youzhny twice in the second set to go up 4-1, before Youzhny earned his only break of the match to make it 4-3.

Nadal then struggled to serve out the match, having to save four break points before clinching the victory with a volley into an empty court.

"I think I played my best match here today," Nadal said. "Doing a lot of things very, very well. . . . For moments, I enjoyed playing tennis a lot tonight."

After meeting up with Schalke's Spanish forward Raul Gonzalez, who watched the match with his teammates, Nadal told reporters he is also feeling happier about his game and appeared to have the spark back following a year in which he repeatedly lost to Novak Djokovic and bemoaned his play as sometimes too predicable.

"Well, I think I am fresh mentally. That's important," Nadal said. "But I want to do it well, and I really am motivated to try to play well . . . I am in the right way. That's what I can say. My feeling is I am in the really right way. We'll see what's going on. I am doing much better than what I felt before this tournament, so that's a really positive thing."

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